Despite the immense pressures that Pakistani journalists have always appreciated and jealously safeguard their freedoms. There is hope that, despite everything, the fight has not yet left the community. On Friday, they met for the observance of a ‘Black Day’ against the recent amendments to the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Law, which were razed by the ruling coalition through Parliament and signed by the President earlier this week . Now there are harder sanctions for anything considered ‘false news’ by the authorities, the expanded state supervision of digital platforms and preparations for the new regulatory organisms to monitor and crowd social networks. Decrying the sin amendments as a ‘black’ law, the Federal Union of Pakistan journalists, who organized the protest, had called to the rulers to advocate for freedom of expression when in the opposition and betray them once in power. Condemning the amended law to enable arrests and sanctions without just trial procedures, the PFUJ has also announced a ‘movement of press release’ nationwide, to be led by journalists and rights activists, and said it would join the formal challenges to the law together with lawyers. The country.
In a fair society, the legitimacy of any law is not considered in its convenience for the rulers of the time but in their universality. A good law must protect and safeguard rights and freedoms, regardless of who has power. The sins, on the other hand, seem to have been designed to serve some while endangering the many. Those who legislated and promulgated the amendments do not seem to have thought appropriate in their potential hazards. It is also strange that they have overlooked repeated warnings, even of the supporters: after all, one of the first victims of the original pek were the same parties that had helped the approval of the law. Unleashed and fired, the press and legal fraternities have chosen to take a dignified position; One that is reasonably cautious of the implications of the recently updated law. For their own good, the ruling parties must pay attention to their concerns. All interested parties realize that there can be no commitment to national security, but at the same time there are strong disagreements about how the digital sphere should be ensured. The government must listen to opposite points of view and address the concerns of all interested parties.
Posted in Dawn, February 1, 2025
